SPREADING BY MEANS OF ROOTSTOCKS 



19 



28. Creeping rhizomes of wild sunflower 



colony of wild sunflower. On the right 

 the rhizomes have died away: note the 

 frayed ends. On the left, the strong up- 

 turned buds show where the shoots will 

 arise next spring. The old stems in the 

 middle show where the buds stood at the 

 close of the last season. Fig. 23 shows one 

 of the terminal buds. 



51. When rhizomes are cut in pieces, 



each piece having at least one bud or 



"eye," the pieces may grow when planted. 



A familiar example is the practice of 



dividing tubers of potato. A severed piece 



of plant designed to be used 



to propagate the plant is 



a cutting. See Fig. 29. 



52. Cuttings of rhi- 

 zomes are often made 



undesignedly or accidentally when land is cultivated. The 

 cultivator or har- 



row breaks u p 

 the rhizomes of 

 quack-grass, Can- 

 ada-thistle, toad- 

 flax, and other 

 weeds, and scat 

 ters them over 

 the field. 



53. Propa- 

 gation by 

 Means of 

 Roots . — 

 Roots some- 

 times develop 

 buds and 



29. Cuttings of canna rhizome. 



